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Intel will begin shipping updated versions of its Itanium 2 processors on 6 May after sampling on 4 March, The Register has learned.

That date will see the chip maker start offering the latest Itanic core stepping, A2, a revision of the A1 core currently shipping and turning up in servers (apparently).

The update takes in all Itania, from the 1.3GHz, 3MB L3, 400MHz FSB version, through the 1.6GHz, 3MB L3, 533MHz FSB release, to the 1.6GHz, 9MB L3, 400MHz FSB incarnation.

The new stepping fixes a pair of bugs... er... errata (sorry), numbers 97 and 103, both of which can lead to a system crash, Intel warns. Ah well, only 101 more to go...

All these processors are fabbed at 130nm. It's not clear whether the new parts also represent a shift to 90nm as well as the core tweak, but the Intel documentation seen by The Register suggests not. Don't expect any "significant changes... in electrical and thermal specifications relative to the A1 stepping", the chip maker says. ®